The Real History of Witches and Witch Hunts

By: Thomas Fudge

Narrated by: Thomas Fudge

Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Heralded as one of the world’s greatest scholars of scholars of late medieval religious heterodoxy, Thomas Fudge combines scholarly insight with great storytelling.

For centuries, the idea of witches living in our midst has enthralled us. How did this fascination develop? Why did it lead to the persecution of thousands of accused “witches,” most of them women? What does the history of witch hunts reveal about our identities and Western civilization at large?

Holding doctorates in both medieval history and theology, Prof. Fudge is the perfect guide for this audio course on witch-hunting. Under his tutelage, you will discover how a culture of paranoia developed, why those ideas appealed to men and women in the 16th and 17th centuries, and what effects linger even today. Throughout this 18-part series you will analyze primary sources to understand and contextualize the regulation, detection, and prosecution of alleged witchcraft.

By studying the medieval foundations for modern manifestations of witch-hunting - like McCarthyism - you will become more conscientious of the social dynamics of witch-hunts. As Prof. Fudge underscores, witches are a topic “used, misused, and abused.”

This course is part of the Learn25 collection and includes a free PDF study guide.

©2018 Now You Know Media Inc. (P)2018 Now You Know Media Inc.

Don't heed the negative reviews

This is a very fine, concise series of 18 lectures on an important subject. I recommend it to all interested in history. The lecturer speaks in a clipped way that could annoy, but listening at 1.5 speed mitigated the effect.

Negative comments I've read here seem entirely unjustified, some absurdly so. I bought this at a 2-for1 credit sale, but having listened to it, I would gladly pay a full credit. I might add that I listen to many books on history and own just about every title on history in the Great Courses lecture series.

Interesting lecture series on a riveting topic

I've always wanted to know more about witch-hunting, so I was pleased to find this title. How could something like this ever even have happened, was always one of my main questions. This audiobook answered some of the questions for me, and left me stunned at the astonishing number of women burned at the stake for witchcraft in the Middle Ages. I was also surprised to learn that the burnings continued into the Renaissance, in other words, the Age of Reason, when art and science were starting to blossom. The work is all the more relevant in today's world where of course women have far more freedom and rights, but still I think it's easier to tarnish a woman's name than a man's. This audiobook gives insight into the history of that. Great content, but obviously, since it's a lecture series, the delivery is a little dry. Don't let that put you off, though.

A great listen!

So very sad that this actually happened! Great insight to the bizarre world of Early Modern Europe and how religion, oddly enough, lays proof that (arguably), the most evil treatment ever brought upon defenseless, innocent people, was all done in the name of God, Ignorance and Fear.

Informative but ...

This book is very informative about the times and the people involved but It gets disturbingly gruesome at times. This is one book I will not listen to again.

illuminating

Even if one is aware of the history, this book does a very good job of providing actual court evidence, more lack, written during the trials of the individuals accused of witchcraft.

Interesting history of witches and witch-hunting.

Excellent course in the history of witches and witch hunters and their impact on people. I liked how the instructor included modern day witch hunting. The more we understand the motives behind witch hunting the better we can stand against it.

Perfect professor for this series

With 2 PhDs, in medieval history and in theology, Prof. Fudge shares his deep understanding of this strange subject. His lectures are erudite, lively, information packed. I hope to see more Learn25 lecture courses by Fudge soon.

Excellent Introductory Survey

Yes, this is too short - but for its scale this is an outstanding introduction to a complex and much-distorted aspect of European history.

The 25-minute lecture format does lead the author to continually cut explanations short. But it also allows for treatment of less-prominent issues such as the legal processes of the era.

Final course grade: A+

Great listen!

I love how deep and thorough these series of lectures were. I felt very convinced that the prof knew what he was talking about, and it was fascinating

Very good but one point:

A very good history and mostly on target analysis with one exception to offer.
In the last chapter's analysis the author states the obvious of problem applying today's tribal morals and rationalizations to yesterdays history and then he does just that in his recounting of recent witch hunts where he considers accusations of antisemitism with regard to Israel criticism to be a witch hunt and ignores the #metoo and campus rape panic. If you are verse in campus politics this is very inside the bubble academic thinking but, by the same token if he were to address such issues it would likely be the end of his career.
Otherwise the course is very good and being knowledgable about witch hunting is key to upstanding current events and culture as it the a constant feature of human nature.